Divers trying to recover body found near Montara beach

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Rescue crews and divers were waiting for conditions to improve before they could try to recover a body spotted near the bottom of a cliff north of Montara, San Mateo County Sheriff's Sgt. Linda Gibbons said Friday.

A hiker spotted the body between Montara State Beach and Great Whale Cove State Beach about 1:10 p.m. Thursday.

Gibbons said rescue workers and divers are at the scene, but high winds, a high tide and heavy surf made the conditions too treacherous for them to retrieve the body at the time.

She said rescue workers would have considered taking more risks if the person were still alive.

Gibbons said rescuers hoped conditions would improve at low tide this morning.

Although one person who spotted the body said they thought it wasa man, Gibbons said authorities didn't yet know the gender of the body.

She said authorities had no idea who the person might be.

Gibbons said one possibility is that it could be the body of a man who was reported missing two weeks ago and whose car was found a quarter-mile north of the location where the body is.

But she said that was only speculation until authorities could recover the body.